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RE: waving back from goofy Delhi

Released on 2012-10-19 08:00 GMT

Email-ID

91250

Date

2008-04-07 19:38:13

From

robinder@imagindia.org

To

bhalla@stratfor.com

Hi Reva,

Nice to hear from you - the weekend was very relaxed - though there is a
delegation in town from the US Dept of Energy - and that took up some
time. They are focusing on energy efficiency, green buildings, and
biofuels. Delhi is actually pretty pleasant - we've had some cooling
showers - pretty un-seasonal - global warming?

Yes, Mark Penn seems to have at last met his come uppance - there seemed
to be too many people gunning for him. How much time do you give before
she withdraws?

How was your weekend? Things are lovely as ever in sunny Texas...(though i
could definitely do without the allergies. sinus headaches here are the
absolute worst). Did you hear the news about Hillary firing her chief
strategist? she is absolutely toast. just wait till the knives come out..

do you mind if i ask you a few follow-up questions to this NGO issue?

you stress a lot that it depends a lot on the government in control of the
state and center to determine how closely monitored an NGO like this would
be monitored.. can you expand on that a bit? basically, what would the
differences in attitude be between Congress/BJP/CPI-M toward an NGO like
the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and the work they do?

[a] All will focus on money and usage of funds.

[b] All will especially focus on activities in the North-East, and other
border areas

[c] The BJP and CPI-M will focus especially to see what is happening in
tribal areas

[d] The BJP will especially look to see any links to evangelist agenda

not sure if you know the answer to this, but what govt/intel agency in
particular would be in charge of monitoring NGO activity? i'm assuming the
intel capabilities would vary greatly from a state like Manipur to
Maharashtra...

[a] Generally it will come under the purview of the Home Ministry (and
then agencies within the Ministry). At the local level, the unit is the
"Local Intelligence Unit" - which is like the intelligence gathering
personnel at the ground level in any district.

[b] Intelligence gathering will vary from state to state - in the sense of
the state's infrastructure. But in the sensitive areas, let us say like
Manipur, the central agencies invest more than the state, i.e. the central
monitoring is more in sensitive states.

also, i would think that some issues that the NGO works on, like AIDS
prevention, would be more in focus in some of the more underdeveloped
states like Manipur and Nagaland. At the same time, thsoe states seem to
have so much trouble on their hands that they would lack the bandwidth to
really monitor NGOs that closely. I could be wrong though. Was hoping to
get your take on that.

Info-gathering is not dependent upon the state alone. In the North-east -
the centre makes extra effort. So, even if the state does not have
bandwidth, the centre will make sure it has sufficient means to track.

i can always count on you for these thorough answers, thank you! Stratfor
is very interested in formalizing a relationship with you..I'm hoping
we'll be able to work out the details if and when I make it to London. And
yes, i think your suggested title is perfect :-)

Can you send me your CV? I just realized that I actually know very little
about your professional background after all this time we've been in
touch.

AH, I SHALL SEND - THERE IS AT LEAST A PART OF MY CV ON WWW.IMAGINDIA.ORG
IN THE "ABOUT US" SECTION, DOWN BELOW. MY PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND IS
PRETTY ECLECTIC MAYBE - ENGINEERING (B.TECH ELECTRICAL ENGG); SOCIAL
SCIENCES (MA INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS); AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT (MBA
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS)

On the NGO question (and this is confidential), I am mainly looking at any
potential threats to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in India, where
they focus mainly on health issues, like AIDS prevention, which can get
them in trouble from time to time. Also, vaccinations and medications
usually require testing on animals.. They're mainly in Delhi, AP,
Karnataka, Manipur, Maharashtra and Nagaland.

POTENTIAL THREATS TO THE GATES FOUNDATION IN INDIA ARE PERHAPS LOW - THEY
ENGAGE IN AREAS WHICH ARE NON-CONTROVERSIAL; THE NAME GATES INSPIRES
RESPECT IN INDIA; AND GENERALLY THE BRAND "GATES" IS PERCEIVED PRETTY
SOLIDLY. YES, THEIR ESPOUSAL/FOCUS ON AIDS IS CONTROVERSIAL AT TIMES - BUT
PERHAPS NOT TOO MUCH. YES, THIS DEPENDS ON THE GOVT. AT CENTER TOO.

Specifically, what's the Indian govt's view of the NGO, what part of the
NGO's activities might have the govt worried, and how do indian intel
agencies (at the state and/or national level) monitor the activies of an
NGO such as this one. Would any of these points vary by state? Also, I'm
trying to dig into any media biases against this particular NGO.

GOVT. IS MOST WORRIED ON - FUNDING (WHERE THE FUNDS ARE COMING FROM; WHERE
ARE THE FUNDS BEING DISPERSED TO). INDIAN INTEL AGENCIES HAVE A VARIETY OF
WAYS TO TRACK IF THEY FOCUS ON A NGO - RANGING FROM ASKING FOR FINANCIALS,
TO WIRE-TAPPING (I WILL NOT SAY IN WHAT FORM, OR UNDER WHAT LAWS, BUT YES
- THEY CAN AND WILL LISTEN INTO TELEPHONES IF THEY WANT). MONITORING
VARIES BETWEEN CENTRAL AND STATE AGENCIES; AND VARIES ACROSS STATE TO
STATE - ON LAWS, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY DEPENDS ON THE PARTY IN POWER AT THE
STATE.

MEDIA BIASES AGAINST GATES FOUNDATION ARE PERHAPS LOW - THERE IS GENERAL
BIAS AND CYNICISM TOWARDS NGOS, BUT WRT GATES FOUNDATION LOWER BIAS,
THOUGH DEPENDS ON THE ISSUE, AND PARTY AT CENTRE AND THE STATE, AND WHAT
THE FOUNDATION "PUSHES". (FOR E.G. IF THEY PUSH AIDS, AND IF BJP IS IN
CENTER, THEN THEY WILL FACE PUSHBACK.)

Do you think these are questions you might have answers to? I hope so!!!!

Thank you soo much!

You should tell India to stop being so delusional ... Hill ain't gonna
win. Honestly, she really embarrassed herself with that whole Bosnia
story. I've seen Obama speak in person..he's a good guy..first candidate
I've voted for that i actually really believe in. I can see why India
would be eager to have a Clinton back in the White House though...

I AM TELLING THAT EXACTLY - THE RITHMETIC IS AGAINST HER TOTALLY. THE
INDIAN PUBLIC IS ENAMORED OF HILARY. BUT "INDIA" IS NOT EAGER TO HAVE A
CLINTON BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE - IT IS THOUGHT THAT DEMOCRATS WILL BE
LESS COZY WITH INDIA COMPARED TO REPS.

I will believe you when I see you in London - and in the meanwhile, I do
trust you.

Re your Q about view of western NGO's - it's a most interesting question.
There are two flavors to this question - and it depends upon who is in
power at the Center also. At a VERY LARGE picture, NGO's are viewed with
skepticism, and with goodwill. Depending on what the NGO is doing, it gets
more complicated. The BJP has a knee jerk (and maybe valid) reaction to
evangelism. Some NGOs who come to India are into evangelism - that is a
huge and sensitive point, especially if and when BJP is in power - because
then it is viewed as converting Hindus to Christianity.

Then there is the question of money transfer - that is being tracked very
seriously, and there are wheels within wheels to this issue. The ministry
of Home Affairs (say, the DoJ of India) is tracking and fine tuning the
incoming funds, with the finance ministry. Between the Home Ministry and
the Finance Ministry there is increasing sophistication.

So, the question will be - what is the NGO into - what sector / focus? The
deeper answers to your question can be laid out. I can get views from
specialized people on this matter - the question is - what do you need? A
2-pager? What kind of input you need - I will help you clearly and
practically. For that 2-pager I may take input from even former ministers,
present MPs, etc. - then the question will be what do they get in lieu of
their inputs - very honest and practical questions.

Re what I want from you for all this ideation - what about - "Advisor
Emeritus" of Stratfor in India?

Re prez elections - Indians still think Hillary is the heir apparent. They
do not know much that Hillary is toast. Depends on what we mean by "people
of India". The media is still hung over about the charisma of Hilary. The
fact that the math is totally against her has not sunk in yet. However,
yes, Obama has a very good image - only amongst the ones who know deeper.
I am on a fledgling Hindi news channel tomorrow night re this exact
matter. Hindi is the language to communicate to a broader mass base about
foreign affairs in India - my one intent is to "mass base foreign
affairs"....so this program is a cool tool for that.

Pardon my random thoughts above; have just come home, and wanted to reply
back to you. We can take any of the above points deeper in discussion any
time.

What's new in Delhi? BELIEVE ME, I am trying my best to get permission
from the powers that be to go to this investors summit in London. I just
got back from a very fruitful trip to Cairo, however. I absolutely love
that city..

I was hoping I could get your assistance on something I'm working on.
Perhaps you or one of your contacts would have good insight on this..

I'm trying to determine how India's government and security apparatus
views major western NGOs. In particular, I want to know how state
governments and intelligence agencies monitor NGOs, what do they view as
threats from particular NGOs, to what extent do they really care and focus
on NGO activity, etc. There is one NGO in particular that I'm looking at,
and can give you more details if you think this is something you or any of
your contacts might be able to shed some light on. What do you think?

Your help would be sooo greatly appreciated, and please ask me for
anything in return!

btw, meant to ask you, what are ppl over there saying about the elections?
are a lot of ppl in favor of Obama?